Key West Festbounces Back

Four new plays (including one by Vanities author Jack Heifner), a forum led by Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman, daily play readings, a Broadway musical pops concert hosted by Lee Roy Reams, and nightly after-theater cabaret shows comprise the mix for the Eighth Annual Key West Theatre Festival, Oct. 7-17.

The festival is bouncing back to its full, 10-day schedule. Hurricane Mitch's damage to the Keys forced last year's festival to be delayed, and shortened to a single weekend. This year's main stage plays will be split, two apiece in repertory at Mallory Square's Waterfront Playhouse and at the Red Barn Theatre a few blocks up on Duval Street. Opening- and closing-night galas are also scheduled, along with a Meet the Playwrights party.

Norman will host the free playwrights forum at noon Oct. 9 at the Waterfront Playhouse in Mallory Square, with the playwrights party scheduled that evening.

The fest kicks off Oct. 7 with two comedies, Domestic Tranquility by Rich Orloff at the Waterfront and Big Hearts by Gary Bonasorte at the Red Barn. Orloff's play is described as "The Marx Brothers meet Father Knows Best when a perfect '50s family is held hostage by zany escaped convicts." Miami's Barry Steinman directs. Bonasorte's romantic comedy is "a Valentine's play about hearts connecting" when they meet at sunset on the island's White Street pier. It's directed by Tom Caruso.

Joining the repertory on Oct. 8 are Heifner's The Lemon Cookie, a love story about a couple struggling to stay committed to each other, directed by festival artistic director Joan McGillis at the Waterfront. Miami's Ellen Davis directs Prodigal Kiss at the Red Barn. The drama by Caridad Svich, playwright-in-residence at the Mark Taper Forum, is about a young Cuban emigree seeking the American dream.

The Broadway musical pops concert takes place Sunday, Oct. 9 at the Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Center. The free readings will be held weekdays at 3 p.m. at the Waterfront.

Admission is $15 per play, $20 for the opening-night gala, $20-$50 for the pops concert. Package prices are available for multiple events at Theatre Key West, 720-B Caroline St., P.O. Box 992, Key West, FL 33041. Call 800-741-6945 or 305-292-3725. Travel and lodging specials are also available by calling 800-LAST-KEY.

Shorts in winter

City Theatre, the company behind the popular Summer Shorts festival of mini-plays the past five years, now brings us Winter Shorts. A single program of six to eight new playlets (nothing rehashed from past summers) will be mounted Dec. 2-12 at the Colony Theatre on Miami Beach.

Founder and co-producer Susan Westfall says it's part of an expansion that began last year with a series of play readings. Those readings will resume this fall, at various locations in Miami-Dade and at the Broward Center. For details, call 305-284-3605.

Caldwell coup

Managing director Michael Hall put the finishing touch on the Caldwell Theatre Company's season this week with the announcement that the off-Broadway comedy hit Over the River and Through the Woods will close the season April 9-May 21. It's about a Hoboken Italian family that cooks up a marriage plot to keep the youngest male from moving away to Seattle.

Also at the Caldwell, the Dec. 31-Feb. 13 slot has become the troupe's 25th anniversary show. A new work by local playwright Michael McKeever, Don't Tell the Tsar, has been added to Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy as a twin bill that will feature a cast of Caldwell all-stars. Call 561-241-7432 or toll-free 930-6400.